“Mechanical Marvel”

classic over achiever.

Question: How can you tell when an out of work pastry chef is missing the kitchen?

Answer: She makes embarrassing dessert displays like a croquembouche for casual summer barbecues.

A croquembouche is never a bad idea. I’m going through a French pastry renaissance, (not sure how it started, or where it’s going, but so far there haven’t been too many complaints,) and decided to put together a croquembouche for family dinner on Sunday. I know this sort of thing can seem overwhelming, but trust me, it’s a piece of cake.

As you will find, the trouble with a truly wonderful dessert is that they disappear quickly…. I wasn’t able to get a photo before the thing was half devoured… you’ll have to use your imaginations. It was glorious.

I will never get too many cream puffs.

Here is how you make a croquembouche. It’s easy.  Stay organized! Plan to do the work over a few days, as it is much easier to work with cream puffs that are fully dried, and pastry cream that is nice and cold.

First, make a batch of cream puffs. You might want to do this the day before you plan to assemble the croquembouch, as the fewer things you have to worry about that day the better. I used the Joy of Cooking recipe, here is how it goes…

Choux Paste

• 1 cup flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1c water or milk
• 1/3 c butter
• 5 eggs

Place water, butter, salt and sugar in a medium sized pot. Bring to a full rolling boil.

Add flour and stir like crazy! The mix will go all lumpy at first, but it will quickly become smooth. When it pulls away from the sides of the pot in a smooth ball, turn it out into the bowl of your mixer and, with a paddle attachment, beat it on medium speed for about two minutes.

Once the mixture has cooled slightly, start adding the eggs, one at a time. Give each egg a chance to work in, scrape the bowl between each addition.

The paste should be smooth and very elastic. It will be stiff enough to hold it’s shape when piped onto a baking tray.

Pipe or spoon small amounts of the paste onto a lined baking tray. You should get about two dozen puffs from this recipe.

Bake at 400 degrees until the puffs are puffy, golden, and light as air.

Once they are baked, poke a small hole in the bottom of each puff. This will allow steam to be released, keeping them crispy, and will also make filling them with cream much easier.

A crowd pleaser.

You can fill your puffs with just about anything. I filled these ones with orange pastry cream, (which melted in the heat,) and whipped cream. I also dipped about half of them in chocolate, because I’m an overachiever and am clearly desperate for attention.

When you are ready to assemble the masterpiece, (you have your puffs all baked, filled, dipped and ready to go) the next step is to make the caramel that will hold them all together. Caramel is easy to make, and really easy to screw up. Take your time, make sure your ingredients and equipment are clean, and for god’s sake be careful. Hot caramel will melt right through your fingernails.

Caramel

• 3 c white sugar. As clean as possible. I recommend using a fresh bag.
• 1/3 c water
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. This will help prevent your caramel from forming crystals. It’s important, so don’t think you can get away without it.

Put all ingredients in a medium sized pot and cook over medium-high heat. I place a bowl over the pot, which keeps the sides of the pot clean from any sugar crystals. If you are more fussy, wash the sides of the pot down with a damp pastry brush.

As soon as the caramel starts to colour, pour a small amount out on to the plate you plan to build your croquembouche on. Working quickly, but carefully, begin construction! working one round at a time, pour caramel and stack puffs, gradually building a tower that gets smaller as you go. You might find it easier to use a spoon, and tack each puff down, rather than building a full round each time. If your caramel begins to harden in the pot, gently re-heat it. When you have finished the tower, liberally pour any left over caramel down the sides for good measure.

You can keep a finished croquembouche in the fridge for several hours, but I would recommend constructing it as close to dinner time as possible. Sugar doesn’t like to be kept in a fridge for very long, the the puffs will be crispier if they are kept at room temperature.

If you can tell me what's missing from this picture I'll make you your own croquembouche

That’s it! Piece of cake!